Public health experts continue to believe that breakthrough infections are relatively uncommon, and rarely result in severe illness or hospitalizations. The vaccines available in the United States offer powerful protection from serious Covid illness, hospitalization and death. A recent analysis of state-reported data from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that more than nine in 10 Covid-19 cases that resulted in hospitalization and death occurred among people who were not fully vaccinated.
“We always anticipated that there would be some breakthrough infections because the vaccines at their very best were 95 percent effective,” said Dr. William Schaffner, professor of infectious disease at Vanderbilt. “The vaccines were designed to prevent severe illness, and they’re spectacularly successful at that.”
For some, breakthrough infections have felt like mild allergies, coming with symptoms including a cough, sniffles and a scratchy throat. Others have had more severe cases, where they are bedridden with body aches, fevers and chills. And still others have had some of the telltale signs of Covid such as loss of taste and smell, “Covid rash” and brain fog.
